Friday, January 2, 2015

In A Sunburned Country

Book: In A Sunburned Country
Author: Bill Byrson
Edition: eBook read on Overdrive from Fresno County Library
Read: January 2, 2015
561 pages
Rated: 3  out of 5

Synopsis:
Bill Bryson visits each of the parts and major cities of Australia and gives an idea of what each is like.



Evaluation:
The last couple of sentences pretty much sum up the book: Australia is an interesting place... And that really is all I'm saying. This is a well-written, entertaining, even humorous, book about Bill Bryson's travels through Australia. I got a good flavor of the country, its culture, peoples, and history. You can sum up his observations that Australia is:
  • Really big
  • There is a lot of remote and desolate areas
  • He really enjoys Australia
  • It is a dangerous place
  • Outsiders do not hear too much about it.
  • It is an interesting place
My rating of three does not indicate a lack of enjoyment-I did enjoy reading it. But it is also a book which I would be just as well off not reading it, sort of like a P.G.Wodehouse book-don't look for something to stir you to action, except for wanting to make a trip to Australia.


New Words:
  • Vivacity (Chp 10) the quality of being attractively lively and animated.
  • Odium (Chp 10) general or widespread hatred or disgust directed toward someone as a result of their actions.
  • Insalubrious ( Chp 15) Not promoting health; unwholesome
  • Fecund (Chp 18) producing or capable of producing an abundance of offspring or new growth; fertile
Book References:
  • Bryson has a well documented bibliography at the end of his book, containing65 books. He references most of these throughout the book.

Good Quotes:
  • First Line: Flying into Australia, I realized with a sigh that I had forgotten again who their prime minister is.
  • Last Line: An that really is all I'm saying.


References:
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